A 21-year-old man from Valencia, Pennsylvania, is facing federal terrorism charges after the FBI says it intercepted him just hours before he could carry out a mass-casualty attack he had spent months plotting online in the name of the Islamic State group — arresting him with a freshly bought rifle, 190 rounds of ammunition and roughly 30 knives in tow.

Jonathan Hunter Kramer was taken into custody Saturday night in the parking lot of a hotel in Cranberry Township, north of Pittsburgh, after agents watched him purchase a semiautomatic rifle, magazines, a scope and a bipod at a sporting goods store, according to the Department of Justice and a federal criminal complaint. He was formally charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit terrorism and with providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Months of online radicalization, then a tip

Investigators say Kramer had spent months online under the alias "Hamza Al Rashid," professing loyalty to ISIS, offering to share bomb-making manuals with other users, and telling them he was preparing for a "mission" and was only missing a weapon. A tip from a concerned member of the public reportedly put him back on the FBI's radar, prompting agents to track his movements on September 12: he took a rideshare to buy a disposable phone, met an unidentified person in a parking lot to retrieve a long black bag from a car trunk, checked into the hotel with cash, then walked into the sporting goods store where agents were waiting, according to ABC News.

Among the items agents recovered were a rifle loaded with two 30-round magazines, three additional magazines, an entrenching tool, a prayer rug, pepper spray and a handwritten note reading: "Dont look for me. IDK what I did but I cant live in constant fear."

"THEIR OUTSTANDING WORK THWARTED THIS ALLEGED ATTACK BEFORE INNOCENT LIVES COULD BE LOST." — Attorney General Todd Blanche

This was not Kramer's first brush with federal scrutiny. He had reportedly been on the FBI's radar since 2023, when — as a minor — Pennsylvania authorities adjudicated him delinquent for an alleged role in a separate plot to carry out a mass-casualty attack and for possessing child sexual abuse material. He was released from juvenile detention in March 2026, according to Newsweek.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the case as involving a subject "building attack concepts" and "repeatedly expressing extremist rhetoric" while engaging with ISIS propaganda online, a case that unfolded just days after the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Kramer made his initial court appearance Monday, and prosecutors have asked that he be held without bond pending trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community, per NBC10 Philadelphia. If convicted, he faces decades in federal prison. A detention hearing and further proceedings are expected in the coming days as the case moves through U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.